Copy holder



Nov. 7, 1939. c J MEEK 2,179,419

COPY HOLDER Filed April 26, 1937 4 Sheets-Shec 1 INVENTOH l AIEM IATTORNEYS C. J. MEEK COPY HOLDER Nov. 7, 1939.

Filed April 26, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Nov. 7, 1939.

c. J. MEEK 2,179,419

COPY HOLDER Filed April 26, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 /g ATTORNEYS Nov. 7,1939.

c. J. MEEK COPY HOLDER Filed April 26, 193'? 4 Sheets-$heet 4 g? m 14%C71,.

Kkrzyd /Vee% ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 7, 1939 that 2,179,419 corn nornnaCarey .l. Meek, Wheeler, llex. Application April 2d, 1937, Serial No.139,050

9 Claims.

The invention relates to a copy holder and. more especially to acombined copy holder and line indicating and copy shifting mechanism.

The primary object of the invention is provision of a device ormechanism of this charactor, wherein typed or written matter, whether inloose sheet form or a book, can be conveniently and easily placedtherein for the holding of the same so that copying therefrom may hecarried forth expeditiously, the device or mechanism including a lineindicator which is automatically operative for. identifying lines of thewriting and a lifter which is fluid operated to raise or lower the heldwriting and in. this manner properly supporting such writing andidentifying thelines thereof during the copying period by a typiit.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device ormechanism of this character, wherein the writing can be conveniently and29 easily clamped or held in a supported position, the support beingadjustable to properly locate the writing for copying purposes, thesupport for the writing being of novel construction and the control forthe same conveniently located with respect to a typewriter so that itcan actuated without inconvenience to the operator of the typewriter.

A further object of the invention is provision of a device or mechanismof this character,

3U wherein loose sheet writings, books or the like of varying sizes canbe properly supported. and

positioned for copy Work therefrom, the device combination andarrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described,illustrated in BM the accompanying drawings, which disclose thepreferred and modified forms of embodiment of the invention and pointedout in the claims hereunto appended.

In the accompanying drawings: m Figure 1 is a side elevation of a deviceor mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof. Figure 3is a front elevation.Figure 4 is a rear elevation.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 5tl of Figure 1looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary top-plan view of the actuator for the lineindicator oithe device or 5 mechanism.

Figure 7 is a sectional view on the line i-i' of Figure 6 looking in thedirectionof the arrows.

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary plan View showing in detail severalof the controls of the 10 device or mechanism.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary side view thereof showing the controls in oneadjusted position.

Figure l6 is a View similar to Figure 9 showing anotl". r adjustedposition thereof.

Figure ll is a view similar to Figure ill showing a further adjustedposition of the same.

Figure 12 is a fragmentary, sectional view on the line iii-iii of Figure1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 13 is a sectional View on the of Figure 12 looking in thedirection of th and showing the writing raclr. open Figure 14- is a Viewsimilar to Figure ing the writingrack in adjusted an position.

Figure 15 is a view similar to Figure a further adjustment of the saidrac-.. closed position.

Figure 16 is a fragmentary pla view p t1 section of a modified form. oft spring slack tightener of the line ind" c Figure 17 is a sectionalView on the arrows.

Figure 18 is a fragmentary front c ti l showing in detail an auxi laryW1 iting ior the support of the device or rnechai imilar referccecharacters spending parts throughout the several vie the drawings.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the device or mechanismconstituting the present invention .comprisesa relatively heavy fiaticed or case of the required shape and size and reerw rdly of the sameis a vertical or perpendicular fluid cperatedjack ii which rises fromthe said bed or base the desired distance and includes the raising andlowering member it which at its upper end iii carries a head bracket ithaving fixed thereto a writing support in the form of a rest plate beingslightly forwardly inclined to the vertical. The plate it is formedcentrally thereof with a channel or recess i5 providing a seat foraccommodating the hinging area of the binding of a book (not shown)while the outside cover portions rest against this plate M at theportions !6 when the said book is open and carried by the support whilethe pages (not shown) are held for full reading thereof by jack knifeacting releasable grips l! which are secured to the plate M- close to orat the uppermost end of the same and are adjustable, one located at eachof the portions I6, in slots I8 provided in said plate M, the slots l8being extended parallel with each other toward and away from theuppermost edge of the said plate. Fitted at the lower edge of the plateI4 is an extensible opening and closing rack l9 adapted to accommodatethe binding and the pages of the book when on the support. This rackalso accommodates loose sheet writings while the grips I? make securesuch sheets on the support when carrying the same. The rack I9 isextensible for different thicknesses of books when open and also foraccommodating superimposed sheets of writings to be held on the supportM and this rack is readily moved to open position for the introductionof the book or writings therein. The rack has at its front thevertically swingable ledge 89 being hinged at 93 to a slide 9| which isdisposed at the under side of the rack and is movable outwardly andinwardly relative thereto. The ledge 89 has pivoted thereto followers92, being spring tensioned at 93 and guided at 9 3, respectively, forsustaining the slide with the ledge in a retracted relation to the rack.

Upon the bed or base Ill forwardly of the support H5 is an upstandingblock 20 carrying a line indicator comprising an extensible andcontractible lazy-tongs 2!, the lower end being swingingly supported ina bearing 22 secured to said block 25 while the upper end has theconnection 23 with a line indicating bar 24, preferably of the hingedswinging type so that this bar can be arranged with relation to thewriting or copy work in that in one instance it can be disposedcrosswise of one page, for example, that page at the left hand side ofthe writing and thereafter crosswise of the opposite page or that at theright hand side of the writing whether the copy work or writing be abook, pamphlet, folder or the like. Connected with the lower end of thelazy-tongs 2! is a coiled tensioning spring 25 which exerts an extendingor spreading action to said tongs and thus the latter normally will bein a full extended position locating the line bar 24 uppermost withrelation to the plate M for indicating the highest line of the writingto be copied, the lazy-tongs 2i being contracted for the lowering of thebar 24 in a manner presently described.

Mounted on the rear face of the block 20 medially with respect to theplate I4 is a bearing fixture 2G in which is journaled a horizontallydisposed rotatable shaft 27 having fixed thereon a winding and unwindingreel 28 and a spring winding and unwinding pulley 29, respectively,while attached to the reel is the winding and unwinding end of a pulltape 39 although it may be a cable, cord or the like and the oppositeend of this tape is fixed to the uppermost or outermost pivot 3! for thelevers 32 of the lazy-tongs 2i so that on the winding of the said tape30 upon the reel 28 the lazy-tongs will be contracted. Fixed to thepulley 29 is the winding and un winding end of a coiled slack take-upspring 33, the opposite end of the same being fixed at 34 to the block20 for operation in a manner presently described.

Movably fitted with the fixture 26 is a slide 35 to which is hinged at36 a gripping jaw 3'! having a guide slot 33 therein through which istrained the tape 30 while this jaw 31 by a pivot link 39 has connectionwith a rocking lever 40 pivoted at 3| in an inverted U-shaped bracket 42fixed to and rising from the base or bed I and thus when the said lever40 is rocked the jaw 31 is active when swinging in one direction to ridethe tape 30 and on reverse swing will cooperate with the hinged bead onthe slide 35 to grip and pull upon this tape so that the lazytongs 2| ina step by step manner can be retracted from an extended position for thechanging of the line indicating bar 24 with relation to the supportconstituted by the plate l4.

At one side, preferably the right hand side of the bed or base Ill, is acontrol in the form of a turning shaft 43 having at the extreme forwardend a hand crank 44 while in the path of the lever 40 on this shaft 43is an actuator arm 45 so that the lever will be rocked on the turning ofthe shaft 43 and in this manner the operation of the tape 38 is had.This arm is adjustable to provide long or short strokes. The spring 33on the pulley 29 is active on the pulling of the tape 36 for the quickwinding of the said tape upon the reel 23 and thus takes up any slack inthe winding of the same thereon. The lever 40 is displaceable on thepivot ll, the bracket 32 being relatively wide for allowing of suchdisplacement longitudinally of said pivot. When the lever 40 is in oneposition, the arm 45 is in the path thereof and on the shifting of saidlever upon the pivot il, it can be freed from action thereon of the arm45 for a purpose presently described.

The lever 40 has connected thereto a coiled retractile spring 46 whichis also attached to the bed or base if! and functions to hold the outerend of said lever 44] in a lowermost position while connected to thehinge end 35 of the jaw 37 is a coiled spring 47 which functions toyieldably maintain the jaw in gripping relation to the tape 30 and thusa step by step winding of the said tape upon the reel 23 can be had whenthe shaft "33 is intermittently turned at the crank handle 45 end.

The jack I i has in association therewith a fluid pump 48 including areciprocating force plunger 49 and a release valve for the fluid in thejack, preferably oil, the release valve being not shown. The rear end ofthe shaft 13 is formed with a crank 55 to which is pivotally connected alink the latter being pivoted to a double armed pivoted trigger 52, thelink 5! being connected to one of its arms while a coiled retractilespring 53 is connected to the other arm thereof and this spring isattached. at 5 exteriorly to the jack while a link 55 pivotally couplesthe plunger 49 of the pump 458 with the said trigger 52 so that theplunger 53 can be actuated for the extending of the jack in effectingthe raising of the support constituted by the plate I .1. Onintermittently turning the shaft 43, the plunger 59 will be operated fora step by step extension of the jack and in this manner elevating thewriting support, the lowering of the jack ll being had in a mannerpresently described.

Arranged in a guideway 56 in the block 20 are forwardly and rearwardlydirected movably interfitted controls in the form of slides 5'! and 58,respectively, the movable interconnection being had at 59 and th outerends of these controls 57 and 58, which are in the form of slides, areprovided with finger holds 60 and 6!, respectively, for manual operationthereof. The slide 57 at the rear end portion thereof is provided with atoothed rack t2 meshing with a rack gear 6t fixed to a. rotatable shaft64 journaled at 65 on the bed. orb-ase l and this shaft has connectionwith the fluid release valve of the jack ii so that on actuation of theslide the lowering of the jack may be had.

The slide. 58 has the inner end portion upwardly ofiset at lit to rideupon a guide pin 61 on a bracket 68 stationarily fixed to and risingfrom the bed or base it and this end 66 is formed with upstandingabutment lugs or nibs 69 and ill, respectively, one being at one side ofthe lever it and the other at the other side thereof and in this mannerthe said lever it can be shifted on its pivot ii into and out of thepath of the swing of the arm 415 so that the turning shaft 43 whenrotated may independently operate the jack pump 48 or operateconcurrently therewith the line indicator. i v

In Figures 9, l0 and 11 of the drawings, there are shown three separateand distinct adjusted positions of the slides 57 and 58 constituting thecontrols for the device or mechanism in regulating the action of thejack and the line indicator. i

The plate Mi has cut therein the slots ii for the fitting of the gripsll therein while the lower portion of the plate has formed therein theslots it for the adjustable fitting of an auxiliary book or sheet rackT3 with the said plate M constituting the writing support, the auxiliaryrack iii being shown in Figure 18 of the drawings and is for theactuation of smaller sheets or books to be supported in the device ormechanism. The grips i'l when fitting the slots ll will engage thesesmall sheets or book for the holding of the same at rest on the support.

In Figures 16 and 17 of the drawings there is shown a slightmodification of control for the line indicator, wherein a horizontallysup-ported rotatable shaft M fitting bearings has fixed thereto the tapereel 16 and the coilspring pulley ll, respectively, these operatingsimilarly to the reel 28 and pulley it while the said shaft M hasthereon a peripherally knurled wheel 18 engageable at its periphery by afriction dog or pawl l9 pivoted at iii to and between a pair of sidelinks 3! loosely fitting the shaft Hi at opposite sides of the wheel l8and this dog or pawl i9 is operated upon by an arm 82 fixed to aturnable control shaft 33 identical to the shaft 43 and in this mannerwhen the latter is turned the tape M, the equivalent of the tape 30,will be wound in a step by step manner upon the reel iii for thecontracting of the lazy-tongs 2i and thus moving the line indicating bar24 successively from. line to line of the writing upon the supportconstituted by the plate M and in this fashion a copyist at a glance canidentify the line of the writing to be copied in the use of a typewriteror by long hand or otherwise. A The shaft 43 at the handle 44 end hasfitted therewith a coiled tensioning spring 85 which active for lineindication it is arranged close to the writing upon the support forclear indication or identification of a line of such writing to becopied.

To one of the links 8| is connected a retractile spring 86 which bringsboth links 8| normally in engagement with a rest post 8'! to which thespring 86 is also attached so that when the dog shaft "Mi in effectingthe winding of the tape ii l upon the reel 16. The dog or pawl i9 islimited in the lowering movement thereof at the rear end by a stop 38carried by one of the links 8!.

When the device or mechanism is in use for copying purposes and the jackl i has been actuated for the positioning of the writing to be copied ascarried by the support constituted by the plate Hi, the lazy-tongs 2|having been extended to the first line of such writing, and it isdesired that the line indicator be actuated it is required that theshaft M be turned at the handle i i end of the same. This effects asingle step contraction of the lazy-tongs on a single turn of the shaft43 and thereby dropping or lowering the bar 24 one line with relation tothe writing to be copied and in this manner indicating to the copyistthe particular line to be copied. Of course, if the jack ii is. set inaction, the support as constituted by the plate M can be raised in astep by step manner and in this event the line indicator will berendered passive or inactive by means of the slide 58 yet by the step bystep movement of the jack and the support the said passive orinactiveline indicator will identify on the writing upon the support theline to be copied therefrom as the jack will carry the writing upwardlyin single line order of the writing relative to the inactive or passiveline indicator in the association thereof with the support.

Furthermore, by the actuation of the jack II for the raising of thesupport the proper locating of the writing to be copied upon the lattercan be readily had for ccaction with such writing of the line indicatorincluding the lazy-tongs ii.

The jaw 37 is operated through the lever ill, this being actuated fromshaft 43 through manual manipulation of the hand crank it and the tape39 trained through the guide slot 3% is free from gripping action by thejaw 37 when the hand crank it is in normal inactive position, beingunderstood of course that the force of the spring 553 equals that of thespring 25, so that the lazy-tongs can be manually extended or contractedto shift the line indicator at the desired line of the writing of thecopy work.

It is, of course, understood that with regard to the grips ll, these areadaptable for positioning on the plate M with respect to any of theslots in the upper portion of the said plate to care for different sizesof copy work.

The auxiliary rack 13 preferably has arranged at proper points thereofswinging leaf springlike holders or clamps 88' which are turned tooverlie the lowermost edge or edges of a book or sheet so as to retainthe latter at rest upon the rack and from working off of the same.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of the character described comprising a copysupport-carrying jack having a pump, a manually actuated lever havingconnection with the pump for operation thereof, a normally ex-- tendedcontractible line indicator mounted for vertical swinging movementforwardly of the copy support of said jack, means for contracting theindicator from its extended position, means for imparting step by stepmovement; to the contracting means and actuated by the manually actuatedlever, and means manually controlled for moving the imparting means intoactive or inactive relation to the said lever.

2. A device of the character described comprising a copysupport-carrying jack having a pump provided with a release valve, amanually actuated lever having connection with the pump for operationthereof, a normally extended contractible line indicator mounted forvertical swinging movement forwardly of the copy support of said jack,means for contracting the indicator from its extended position, meansfor imparting step by step movement to the contracting means andactuated by the manually actuated lever, means manually controlled formoving the imparting means into active or inactive relation to the saidlever, and means manually controlled for actuating the pump releasevalve.

3. A device of the character described comprising a copysupport-carrying jack having a pump provided with a release valve, amanually actuated lever having connection with the pump for operationthereof, a normally extended contractible line indicator mounted forvertical swinging movement forwardly of the copy support of said jack,means for contracting the indicator from its extended position, meansfor imparting step by step movement to the contracting means andactuated by the manually actuated lever, means manually controlled formoving the imparting means into active or inactive relation to the saidlever, means manually controlled for actuating the pump release valve,and means normally maintaining the said lever in an inactive setposition.

4. A device of the character described comprising a copysupport-carrying jack having a pump provided with a release valve, amanually actu ated lever having connection with the pump for operationthereof, a normally extended contractible line indicator mounted forvertical swinging movement forwardly of the copy support of said jack,means for contracting the indicator from its extended position, meansfor imparting step by step movement to the contracting means andactuated by the manually actuated lever, means manually controlled formoving the imparting means into active or inactive relation to the saidlever, means manually controlled for actuating the pump release valve,means normally maintaining the said lever in an inactive set posi tion,and means coacting with the line indicator for automatically extendingthe same to its normal extended position.

5. A device of the character described connprising a jack, a copysupporting plate raised and lowered by said jack, line indicator meansranged forwardly of the plate, manually controlled means for operatingthe jack, means operative for effecting a step by step movement to theline indicator means, and means operating the last-named means andactuated by the manually controlled means for operating the jack.

6. A device of the character described comprising a jack, a copysupporting plate raised and lowered by said jack, line indicator meansarranged forwardly of the plate, manually controlled means for operatingthe jack, means operative for effecting a step by step movement to theline indicator means, means operating the last-named means and actuatedby the manually controlled means for operating the jack, and meanscontrolling the means which operate said last-named means for renderingthe same inactive or active with the manually controlled means foroperating the jack.

'7. A device of the character described comprising a jack, a copysupporting plate raised and lowered by said jack, line indicator meansarranged forwardly of the plate, manually controlled means for operatingthe jack, means operative for effecting a step by step movement to theline indicator means, means operating the lastnamed means and actuatedby the manually controlled means for operating the jack, meanscontrolling the means which operate said last-named means for renderingthe same inactive or active with the manually controlled means foroperating the jack, and an extensible and contractible lazy-tongincluded in said line indicating means.

8. A device of the character described comprising a jack, a copysupporting plate raised and lowered by said jack, line indicator meansarranged forwardly of the plate, manually controlled means for operatingthe jack, means operative foreifecting a step by step movement to theline indicator means, means operating the last-named means and actuatedby the manually controlled means for operating the jack, meanscontrolling the means which operate said lastnamed means for renderingthe same inactive or active with the manually controlled means foroperating the jack, an extensible and contractible lazy-tong included insaid line indicating means, and means supporting the said lazy-tong forswing about a horizontal axis.

9. A device of the character described comprising a jack, a copysupporting plate raised and lowered by said jack, line indicator meansarranged forwardly of the plate, manually controlled means for operatingthe jack, means operative for effecting a step by step movement to theline indicator means, means operating the last-named means and actuatedby the manually controlled means for operating the jack, meanscontrolling the means which operate said last-named means for renderingthe same inactive or active with the manually controlled means foroperating the jack, an extensible and contractible lazy-tong included insaid line indicating means, means supporting the said lazy-tong forswing about a horizontal axis, and means for normally extending saidlazy-tong.

CAREY J. MEEK.

